Does this sound like what you pray each morning? Probably not. Most likely, you start your day by finding ways to continue striving. You bite the bullet, promising God you will never return to your old ways.

When you win an occasional victory, you feel good about it. You tell yourself, “I did it! I knew if I would just put my heart and mind to it, I would get the victory.” The tendency is to feel so proud about what you’ve done that you go around judging others who aren’t victorious.

When I was younger, whenever I needed a victory over something, I would tell myself, “I’m going to do this if it kills me.” A month would go by and I would think, “Those covetous thoughts are gone now. I’m free!” But it always proved to be only a partial victory. That is when discouragement would set in. I would cry, “Oh, God, I’ve begged you to deliver me, but You haven’t. This thing is still in me.” And I would blame God.

The fact was, I was so busy striving in my flesh to be righteous that I lost my understanding of true righteousness — the only righteousness the Father accepts. Only Jesus Christ stands righteous before God and when we stand before the Father, He accepts us only through Christ — through His righteousness and victory.

“What must I do?” you ask. Well, first, do not listen to the devil’s lies. Second, get up on your spiritual feet and start giving praise to the Lord. Declare boldly, “By my faith in the blood of Jesus, I receive the righteousness of Christ. He has made me fit and qualified to worship and serve my Lord!”

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). Redemption simply means “set free.” We have been set free by Jesus’ precious blood. We have the right to stand against every accusation and say, “I’m not buying that, devil. You’ve accused me for the last time. My Bible says I’m redeemed because I believe in what Jesus did for me at the cross. I confess my sins to Him and I am redeemed — free!”